There's a Life That You Need to Find
by familyofthieves
Summary: He was only trying to get away from his past, he had never expected to find love or learn what it creates
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **I am back with a new story! I needed a bit of time to relax after TLT, but hopefully this is going to be my new multi-chapter fic, though it probably will not be as long. We'll play it all by ear. This story came about from a request. It is another AU and kind of ties into one of my one shot holiday fics. Many thanks to the lovely my-gosh-its-snowing (on tumblr) for reading this over for me! So please enjoy and let me know what you think!

**Disclaimer: **None of these characters are my own, I am merely borrowing them.

* * *

The first time he met her he was 14 and she was eight, though really he was much older than that after years spent in Neverland. He had finally found a way to escape the island and did not know where he had landed. Looking around all he noticed were trees, which did not give him any clues as to where he landed.

Suddenly a small girl burst through the trees and ran right into him causing both of them to tumble.

"I'm sorry." She quickly apologized rolling off of him.

"It's okay just watch where you are going next time." He shrugged and offered her a hand to help her stand up. "What are you doing here anyway, and where is here?"

"I'm training with my Papa and we're in the Enchanted Forest of course. Are you new?"

"Something like that." he mumbled, he was afraid that. The Enchanted Forest was the last place he wanted to end up in. This was the place he had originally left from and had no plans of ever coming back.

"I'm Emma." She smiled at him oblivious to the conflict he was feeling.

"I'm Bea…I'm…I'm… "

"Do you not know your name?"

"No it's not that, it's just complicated."

"Do you not trust me?"

"It's not that either, it's other people I don't trust and don't want to find me or hurt you." It was true he did trust this little girl, there was something about her but he couldn't put his finger on what it was.

"Well I need something to call you."

He tried to think of a name when they heard a man's voice call out for her.

"That's my papa." She explained but made no movements to leave.

"You better get going before you get into trouble."

"You're probably right. Bye!" she turned around and ran towards the voice, but stopped before heading into the trees. "You never gave me a name to call you."

"Right, well then I guess you can call me…Neal." He didn't know where Neal came from, but now that he said it he knew it would be the perfect new name.

"Goodbye Neal, until next time." With that she ran off into the woods he blonde curls bouncing behind her.

He did not expect there to be a next time. The Enchanted Forest was a big place, one where a person could easily get lost in and forgotten about. He was sure that Emma would soon forget about him, which was probably for the best.

Which is why only a few days later he was surprised to see her again. She had a big smile on her face as if she had won the biggest game imaginable. He couldn't deny that he was happy to see her too. It was lonely in the forest plus he had no place to live and little food to eat.

When she learned this she immediately set to work finding him a place to live and promised him that she would be back tomorrow with a month's worth of food. She was off again before he could protest. He jogged to catch up with her and tried to ask her more about where they were going, but she ignored him and kept moving.

"We're here." she said as they stopped in front of a small cabin.

"How do you know about this place?" he asked, looking around to see if anyone else was there.

"I found it one day when I was wandering the forest on my own."

"You wonder the forest on your own?"

"Well not really. My parents are usually with me or they send a guard, but I always sneak away. Which is how I found this place."

"Are you sure no one lives here?"

"Yes I am positive. Come on let's go inside."

She took his hand in hers and pulled him into the cabin. Once inside he could see that it had been years since anyone had lived here. There was a layer of dust over everything on the inside, but that didn't bother him. He could easily clean this place up and make it livable again.

"Thank you for showing me this."

"That's what friends do, and I couldn't have you living outside, it's not safe."

"Friends?" he asked surprised, he hadn't really had a friend before.

"Yes of course we're friends. Now will you be okay here until tomorrow? I need to get back before they notice I am missing."

"I'll be fine, I'll probably start cleaning this place up."

"Great. I will see you tomorrow then with food too so you don't have to worry about that either."

"But won't your parents notice you taking a whole month's worth of food?"

"No we have a lot of food and as long as I'm careful I shouldn't get caught."

"How do you have that much food?"

She looked down at her feet suddenly nervous, "I'm kind of the princess of this kingdom."

"You're what?" He had expected her to be rich, but not royalty.

"I'm the princess." She grumbled again. "Please don't be mad."

"I'm not mad at you, I'm just shocked you don't act like a princess."

"That's because I'm not your normal princess. I would much rather be riding horses and sword fighting then taking etiquette lessons."

"And your parents don't mind?"

She shook her head no, "Not at all. They say it is important that I am true to myself, plus my mother feels the same way as I do."

He stood in front of her speechless. He wondered what it would be like to have parents like that, ones that put their child's interests before their own and not forcing them to change to fit their needs.

He shook himself out of his thoughts, "You better get going before someone comes looking."

"You're right. Until tomorrow Neal."

She gave him a hug, something else that left him speechless, before running through the front door and off to her castle.

True to her word she was back the next day with a basket filled to the brim with food. They spent the day cleaning up the cabin and sharing stories of their lives. At the end of the day she was forced to go home, but with the promise of coming back soon.

So their secret meetings continued, surprising him each time that she kept her promise. They had agreed to meet in the clearing where they first saw each other so no one would learn of the cabin he lived in. They continued to share stories about their lives, including the one of who his father was. He had expected that would scare her off, but she only gave him a hug and promised to never desert him.

The years went on and they continued to meet. She had learned from her mother how to communicate with bluebirds to send him messages. A day did not go back without him seeing or hearing from one another. Their friendship only grew stronger as the years went on, until the moment when they became more.


	2. Chapter 2

She was going to be 17. Correction, she was going to be 17 and her parents were throwing a ball to celebrate. Not that this was unusual or anything. Her parents were always throwing balls for big celebrations, but this would be the first time he was invited to one.

Over the years she had told him all about the balls, the pros and cons of them, and even suggested he come. He always came up with an excuse though to get out, mostly out of fear of being caught. In the past nine years no one knew he lived in the cabin, other than Emma and a few animals of course. He would like to keep it that way too. The last thing he needed was some random villager sharing his secret with a friend and his father over hearing it.

This time it didn't look like he would be able to use that excuse. Emma had sent the invitation to him through one of her blue birds. He had never gotten an invitation before, which was his first clue that things were different. He knew had to talk her out of this idea, there was no was he was going to a ball in her castle. He understood why she wanted him there, and he wanted to go too, but it was for the safety of everyone in her kingdom that he didn't.

He went over exactly what he was going to say to Emma as he walked to the clearing to meet her. He needed to be careful with his argument, he knew how stubborn she could be and he didn't want her to be angry with him either. It got lonely in that cabin and she was his only friend, he couldn't afford for there to be a fight.

At the same time they both appeared in the clearing. She ran the rest of the way and threw herself into his arms and pressed her lips to his, which he eagerly replied to.

"I missed you." She said as they broke apart.

"I missed you too." he replied and gave her a kiss on the forehead before taking her hand in his and leading them in the direction of his cabin.

"So did you get my invite?"

"I did." He spoke slowly, he needed to remember his argument, there was no room for error.

"So are you going to come?"

"I don't think it's such a good idea Emma?"

She pouted, "Why not?"

"You know why. I don't want my father finding out I'm back in the Enchanted Forest. It would not be safe for anyone if they learned who I really am."

"That's why I told my parents to make sure that he doesn't show you."

He stopped and turned around the face her, "You told them about me?"

"Of course not, I would never do that. I just told them that I wanted extra security up to make sure no one broke into the party. They understood of course, there are always people trying to kill me or my parents any way so it's nothing new."

He let out a sigh of relief and started walking again, "I still don't think it's a good idea."

"But it's a masquerade."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everyone will be wearing masks so no one would be able to see your face."

"A mask won't protect me from my father, you know how powerful he is."

"True, but it will keep your face hidden from everyone else."

He groaned, he didn't think it was going to be this hard to change her mind. He needed to think up a new tactic and fast.

"What about clothes or a mask?" he asked, it was the first thing that came to mind.

"I can easily find you those and make sure no one notices that they don't belong to you." She shrugged; he should have seen that one coming. Along with food she had been sending him clothes when his fell apart or became too small.

"I don't know how to dance." He blurted out; it was his final attempt and a weak one at that.

"I can teach you all the ones you need to know. I've been taking lessons since I was a child, it's about time I put them to use."

"Fine I'll come to your ball." He groaned in defeat. He didn't know why he bothered trying to argue with her, deep down he always knew she was going to win.

"Thank you." She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I promise, you will not regret it."

The two finished their walk with Emma continuing on all about the ball. At least she was happy about it, which in turn made him happy. He would do anything for her even if it meant risking his own life just to see that beautiful smile on her face.

The days went on as the two prepared for the ball. All their time spent together now was on teaching him how to dance; there were a lot of dances that he needed to know perfectly. His outfit came in pieces too and hung in the back closet so they would not get wrinkled.

Finally the day came, he had to admit he was a little excited for it. With the clothes and mask on even he had trouble recognizing himself. There was no one anyone would notice that he was the son of the dark one and not the upper class.

He put the invitation in his pocket and the map Emma had drawn for him so that he would know how to get to her castle. It was fairly simple and not too far from their clearing. All he had to do was make sure that there were no branches or leaves in his clothes before heading inside.

He followed a crowd towards the ballroom taking everything in, he had never been inside a castle before and wasn't sure when he would get the chance again. If Emma had her way he would be living there, but of course that could never happen since he was hiding from his father. Plus he didn't think her parents would be too happy with her dating a peasant boy who just happens to be related to the Dark One.

It was easy to hide once he got into the main room. No one noticed the lone man standing in the back corner; they were all too focused on each other. If this was what the rest of the evening would be like he would be fine.

The room became quiet with the arrival of King David and Queen Snow White. He had never seen them up close before, but they were everything he expected them to look like. It was easy to see where Emma got her looks from; she was a perfect combination of her parents.

Emma came quickly behind her parents in a green dress, mask, and tiara. She was even more striking in full princess attire, which he did not think was possible. He watched her eyes search the crowd until they finally landed on his. To everyone else it looked like she was excited for her ball, but they knew it was because he was able to come.

The guests went back to their mingling while he stood against the wall and waited for her to come to him, there was no need to draw any extra attention.

"Happy birthday." He bowed when she finally made her way over.

"Stop that." she playfully hit his shoulder before falling into his arms. "I'm so glad you came."

"I know. You look beautiful." He gave her a kiss on the cheek, he wished he could kiss her on the lips but that would be pushing it.

She led him out onto the dance floor and the ball began. Dancing was easier than he thought it would be, even with woman he never met before. No one talked to him either other than a simple hello or thank you. Emma made her rounds with all the men, but always made her way back to him. If anyone noticed she spent more time with him, they kept it to themselves. At this point he didn't care either, he had all but forgotten about his father and why he had to stay hidden. All that mattered to him was the girl in his arms.

Slowly the guests started to leave until it was only few left dancing or talking.

"Come with me." Emma whispered into his ear and took his hand sneaking them out of the room.

"Where are we going?" he asked, but she did not answer.

He followed her up the stairs and threw the corridors until they reached a door.

"I want to show you my bedroom." She explained and put her hand on the doorknob to open it.

He covered her hand with his own to stop her, "But what about your parents, won't they notice I'm here?"

"No they are off in their own room and won't come out until morning. They said goodnight to me already at the party."

"How do you know they won't come and check on you?"

"Because they are probably doing something in their bedroom that I do not want to think about."

He let the conversation drop after that comment and removed his hand. Emma turned the handle and pushed the door open revealing her bedroom. He stepped inside taking in the room and all its contents. There were ball gowns mixed in with her slacks along with swords and tiaras. If he didn't know the princess already, he would be very confused about why she had such contrasting possessions.

"What do you think?" she asked closing the door behind her.

"It's very you." He turned back around to face her.

She carefully took off the tiara and placed it in a box that was on her dresser. Next came off her mask, which she set down next to her tiara. She walked over to where he was standing and untied the ribbon that held his mask to his face.

"I've been waiting all night to do that." she said taking it off.

He didn't reply back and instead kissed her properly on the lips, something he had been waiting all night to do. It seemed like she had been thinking the same thing as she eagerly kissed him back.

She led him over to the bed and lowered herself with him hovering above her without breaking apart. They had been in this position before, them together in bed. It was how they spent many afternoons, kissing and talking or sometimes just lying silently side by side. This time felt different though, and not just because they were in her bed in a castle instead of the cabin. His instincts were right and her hands wandered down to the front of his pants.

"What are you doing Emma?" he asked pulling his lips from hers.

"I think you know what I am doing." She said and kept trying to untie the strings.

He grabbed her hands to stop her from going any farther, "We shouldn't do this Emma."

"Why not? Do you not want to?" she pouted, he hated when she pouted.

"Of course I want to, but we can't…we shouldn't."

"That's not a very good reason."

"Aren't you worried though?"

"About what? My purity? My reputation? I don't care about either of those, I only want you Neal. I can't see myself with anyone else."

She leaned up to kiss him again and he quickly responded. This time when she started to untie the strings on his pants he didn't stop her.


End file.
